Archive for the ‘Phrases and Sayings’ Category

Blue Peter is a typically British institution, it’s a children’s television programme that has been running continuously since October 1958.

The format has remained pretty consistent through its fifty year history, two or three respectable young presenters demonstrate how to make things, care for pets and learn about  the world.

The programme was first broadcast in October 1958, introduced by Christopher Trace and Leila Williams. Miss Williams (a former Miss Great Britain) left the programme in 1962 and was replaced by Valerie Singleton who stayed with the programme until 1975, although she ceased to be one of the regular presenters in 1972.

It was the sixties that are often considered to be Blue Peter’s golden years.

The team of Peter Purves, Valerie Singleton and John Noakes proved to be both popular and informative, and shook off competition from ITV’s unashamed Blue Peter clone ‘Magpie’ (1968 to 1980).

There have been 34 presenters of Blue Peter at the time of writing, and many have gone on to presenting more mainstream television.

Blue Peter Pets

It was also in the sixties that the ‘Blue Peter pets’ were first introduced, with the acquisition of a puppy and a competition to name it. ‘Petra’, as the puppy was named, became a surrogate pet for millions of children, and after her death a statue was made of her and placed in the ‘Blue Peter Garden’ in the grounds of the BBC’s Television Centre. I say a statue of Petra, actually some years after the dog’s death in 1977 it was revealed that the original puppy had died a couple of days after the first broadcast and had been replaced.

Other ‘Blue Peter pets’ include ‘Shep’ a mischievous and excitable Border Collie that accompanied John Noakes, Shep’s excitability leading John Noakes to coining a popular catch-phrase “Get Down Shep!”.

Over the years Blue Peter has had nine dogs, nine cats, five tortoises and two parrots.

Blue Peter Badges

One of the first features of Blue Peter were ‘Blue Peter Badges’ – given as reward for various activities and achievements. Various grades of badge were available, from a white shield featuring the Blue Peter logo (designed, incidentally by Tony Hart) up to a gold badge for an outstanding achievement – dragging a pensioner for a burning building or similar.

 One I made Earlier

The phrase “Here’s one I made earlier.” was attributed to the presenter ‘Christopher Trace, and for may of my generation evokes Blue Peter’s regular features of making interesting and useful’ articles from household rubbish, including yoghurt pots, coat hangers and toilet roll tubes, connected with ’sticky tape’ or ‘Sticky backed plastic’ – brand names are never mentioned on the BBC. 

Probably the best remembered of these were the ‘advent crown’ – first made in the early sixties from four wire coat hangers and lots of tinsel

and ‘Tracey Island’ a homemade version of the best selling ‘Thunderbirds’ tie-in.

 Scandals

The replacement of the puppy ‘Petra’ was the first of several ’scandals’ that Blue Peter has endured in its fifty year history. In 1998 the presenter ‘Richard Bacon’ resigned after being exposed by a tabloid newspaper taking cocaine; in 2007 the programme was involved in controversy regarding fake competition winners and the naming of the cat ‘Socks’ – which was supposed to have been by a phone poll, but the public vote was over-ruled by the Blue Peter production team.  

That Blue Peter has survived with so few scandals is probably tribute to Biddy Baxter who edited the programme from 1965 to 1988, it was she, more than anybody who ensured the direction, morality and ethics of the show.

In 2008, when Barack Obama was elected President, an American friend commented to me that he’d seen fireworks on a news feed from Britain and was surprised that we Brits took the US Election so seriously.  

Well the tradition fireworks in the UK in early November date back much farther than the election of Obama!

‘Guy Fawkes Night’ or ‘Firework Night’ is celebrated on November 5th in the United Kingdom and some countries of the Commonwealth. It commemorates the unsuccessful ‘Gunpowder Plot’ of 1605 when a group of wealthy Catholics attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament during the state opening by  King James I. (He was King James VI of Scotland and became King James 1 of England following the death of Queen Elizabeth 1 – who died childless.)

The Catholic plotters had hoped for greater tolerance of Catholicism under James 1st, but were disappointed and decided to assassinate both the King and much of the Protestant aristocracy, and use the destruction of Parliament as an opportunity to start a rebellion and found a Catholic State in England under James’ daughter Princess Elizabeth..

The acknowledged leader of the plot was Robert Catesby, with other plotters including Thomas Winter, Christopher Wright, Robert Keyes, Thomas Percy, John Grant, Ambrose Rokewood, Sir Everard Digby, Francis Tresham and Catesby’s servant Thomas Bates . The plot is remembered, however, for the explosives expert the plotters employed – one Guido Fawkes, who had gained his experience with explosives by fighting for the Spanish against the Dutch in the Spanish Netherlands.

The plot took place over several years, with delays to the opening of Parliament allowing for revisions to the plot; originally the plotters planned to tunnel under the Houses of Parliament from a nearby house, but when Thomas Percy leased a vault (or undercroft) under the palace in early 1605 they used this to store the explosives.

Some 36 barrels of explosive had been stored by the end of May 1605, and the conspirators moved far from London to the Midlands, from where they planned to start the rebellion. The conspiracy had grown, in part because the plotters needed further investment to fund the proposed rebellion, and it is thought that one of the newcomers warned the King and Parliament. Guido (or Guy) Fawkes was caught leaving the explosive filled undercroft and promptly arrested. He was taken to the Tower of London and confessed the names of the other plotters under torture.

Several rhymes exist commemorating the plot – the most common being :

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

the rhyme continues :

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t’was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli’ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England’s overthrow;
By God’s mercy he was catched
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holla boys, holla boys, let the bells ring.
Holla boys, holla boys, God save the King!

When I was a child (not so very long ago) children would make effigies of Guy Fawkes and stand on the streets collecting money for fireworks with the cry “Penny for the Guy” but this has almost died out, not least because recent legislation prevents children from buying fireworks.

These days most people attend public firework displays, featuring a large bonfire, often with a ‘guy’ on the top. Refreshments often served include treacle toffee (known as bonfire toffee), jacket potatoes and gingerbread (also known as ‘parkin’).

The plot is referenced in the graphic novel (and subsequent movie) ‘V for Vendetta’ where the main protagonist wears a Guy Fawkes mask, and succeeds in blowing Parliament up.

It’s not uncommon, when a temperature is related in Celcius, or a measurement in a metric scale for the Fahrenheit or  Imperial measurement to be described as ‘in old money’ – “nineteen degrees Celcius or sixty six in old money”.

This can be traced back to February 15th 1971 when Britain introduced decimal currency; prior to that date all prices were in Pounds, Shillings and Pence… with a Pound comprising twenty Shillings, each of twelve Pence.

After ‘D-Day’ the pound comprised one hundred ‘New Pence’ each worth two point four old pennies. This caused considerable confusion, with mnemonics being developed based on the clock face (five new pence equals one old shilling and so on) and for many years people would translate prices back into ‘old money’.

The wider introduction of metric measurements started in the mid sixties and is now virtually complete, with a few not inconsiderable exceptions – street signs, speed limits and car speedometers are still marked in yards and miles, and beer is still served in pints (and halves).

Some traders, particularly market traders, continued to resist metric measures and insisted on selling fruit and vegetables by the pound and ounce and were prosecuted by over enthusiastic local authorities, becoming known as ‘metric martyrs’ but recently the policy of prosecution has been withdrawn.

Another use of the term ‘old money’ is to describe Britain’s aristocracy who, despite having considerable (inherited) weath are more likely to be wearing threadbare corduroy trousers and driving ageing Volvos than conspicuously flaunting their wealth as the ‘nouveau riche’ are prone to do.

A last drink before going home.

There is some dispute about the origin of this phrase, but a popular (although unproven) explanation is the journey from Newgate Prison to Tyburn (around the site of what is now Marble Arch tube station). The story goes that condemned prisoners were allows a drink at an inn or tavern along their route.

 This was their ‘one for the road’.

The legend further goes that one of the guards accompanying the prisoner was not allowed to go into the ale house and had to stay to mind the cart.

This guard was said to be ‘on the waggon’ and thus not allowed to drink, allegedly providing another modern saying.

Johnny Mercer used the phrase in the lyrics of his song One for My Baby (and One More for the Road) – written in 1943 for Fred Astaire. Since then it has proved popular as a title. It was used in 1984 for a Harold Pinter play, a Stephen King short story, a dodgy British film (2004) and a British television series, starring Alan Davies. It has also provided the title for albums by The Kinks (1980), April Wine (1984), Trouble (1994) and Ocean Colour Scene (2004).

The Australians, have modified the phrase to ‘one more for the bitumen’ and a good friend has (allegedly) translated it into Japanese – ‘ossimoto’ – if a friend raises a glass to me and say’s ‘ossimoto’ then a final drink is definitely on the cards!

Hobson’s Choice is effectively no choice – you get what you’re given.

Thomas Hobson was a coachhouse (livery stable) keeper in Cambridge – about fifty miles north-east of London – in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

To ensure that the horses in his stable were used equally and to prevent the over-use of the more popular or stronger horses, Hobson’s choice was always the horse in the stall nearest the door. 

It clearly paid off, Thomas Hobson was a very successful businessman, in 1614, he helped fund a much needed new water supply into Cambridge by building a causeway from ‘Nine Wells’ near Shelford into Cambridge city centre. The ‘Hobson’s Ditch’ channels still run along Trumpington Street.

Hobson was wealthy enough to be able to acquire and extend ‘Anglesey Abbey’ – a country house about five miles outside Cambridge and now owned by the National Trust.

Hobson’s Choice was quoted in ‘England’s Reformation’ – a poem by Thomas Ward published (posthumously) in 1688 :

Where to elect there is but one,
‘Tis Hobson’s choice—take that, or none.

Hobson’s Choice inspired a play of the same name, by Harold Brighouse and first performed in 1916, it was subsequently filmed in 1954 by the prominent film director David Lean, starring Charles Laughton.